Petroleum processing and extraction typically results in the interaction of various chemicals with a crude oil, crude oil fraction, pipelineable fraction, or refinery stream. Due to the large number of crude oil compositions and further variations introduced by processing of crude oils, a vast number of combinations of petroleum fraction plus additive are possible. Performing a detailed analysis of each possible combination is impractical for a variety of reasons. As a result, it is desirable to have methods which can allow for prediction of the properties and/or outcomes when a substance is added to a petroleum fraction or refinery stream.
Previous journal articles describes prediction of partition coefficients of organic solutes between water and immiscible solvents. (See Leo et al., Chem. Rev., Vol. 71, pg 525 (1971) or Journal of Organic Chemistry, Vol. 36, pg 1539 (1970).) The article describes efforts to develop a linear correlation between partition coefficients for the octanol-water system and partition coefficients for various organic solvents with water. The organic solvents in the journal article are solvents having ten carbons or less.